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Tuesday, September 2, 2014

C&P: The Quiet Game

I cannot recall where I learned about the concept of The Quiet Game, so I cannot give credit
where it is due.My memory tells me it
was during the course of research about Montessori methods, as I use some of
these for my early childhood education.This memory could be correct, since an online search of “quiet game Montessori”
comes back with multiple hits about Montessori and something called “the
silence game.”

Wherever it was, it was presented in an educational
context.The Quiet Game is what I’ve been calling it.I use as a way to teach young children how to
settle down.I have used it on and off,
depending upon whether or not there is an older toddler/young preschooler in my
life.Here’s the method:

* The game can eventually be played anywhere, but the
home is a good place to introduce the concept.

* Choose a time that might be quiet anyway, such as early
morning, just after a meal, or before bedtime.

* Announce, “We’re going to play The Quiet Game now.Let us
sit here, as still and as quietly as we can.Don’t talk, yet.Just listen.”

* Allow a few moments - or a minute - of silence,
depending upon the age or ability of your child.

* Ask the child, in a soft voice, what sounds she
notices.I’ve had the most energetic
child speak in a soft voice, telling me of the sounds she notices when
practicing a purposeful silence.In the
home, this is usually the humming of the refrigerator, the rumble of the
washing machine, or lawn care sounds in the neighborhood.At the park, it’s usually birds, cicadas,
cars, or planes.

* On a ‘wild day,’ The
Quiet Game might not last very long.On a quieter day, it comes to an end in a gentle sort of way: children
drift off into a calm play time or a child asks to be read to.

The best part is when The
Quiet Game gets transferred to places where you’d like to experience quiet,
such as church.A child who can do The Quiet Game can be trusted to attend
Adoration, even if just briefly.I rejoice
(silently) when a little person will ask to play the game without my
prompting.My now-two-year-old has taken
to asking before the start of Mass, but also at times where she and I are
sitting alone out of doors.It shows me
that, on some level, she is recognizing that certain atmospheres are better
than others for entering into meditative moods.

A funny warning: a few weeks ago, my little one who still
has quite a bit of trouble making it through Mass whispered to me before the
start of Mass, “Can we play The Quiet
Game?”I obliged, happily, and we
started.Well, it turns out that the
time before Mass is not as quiet as
I thought.No, we do not attend one of
those chatty-in-the-sanctuary churches, but there is not a pure silence.My daughter kept sharing the sounds she could
hear in the quiet:Someone coughed!I heard a
baby!Someone banged a kneeler!The door is opening again!